Sunday, September 4, 2011

Day 81 Saturday

I got up early before everyone else. I went on the mb and cought up with a bunch of posts and studied some MQ's of partners. I started working on the mini again...still not loving it. Then when everyone got up we made pancakes...yum. Shanna brought over fresh blackberry compote for the pancakes - DELICIOUS!!!! Then we went shopping - using those holiday coupons. By the time we got back we were so tired and hungry we took a break for lunch. I was pooped and lost mojo. Then I checked my mail.....YIPPEE SKIPPY. My friend Cindy sent me a package of good stuff as a belated birthday present. It was amazing...it was just what I needed to regain my mojo. She sent me a wonderful card, an amazing envelope min album, great flowers, a really fun magnet, it was just all wonderful and in my favorite color....ORANGE. THANK YOU CINDY....YOU ARE AWESOME. Thank you also for being my friend.

The afternoon was much more productive. Shanna finished an entire swap - WOOT WOOT. I decided to put the mini aside again after I was just not feeling it and made another banner. I am really liking those. I would really like one of those for myself. Once I get through some of these swaps....I am going to have to do some projects for myself and for family.

I have decided a few things after reflecting:

A. I am a swap junkie.....I love the thrill of deadline and pressure and the what seems impossible is what I really thrive on. I am in over 27 swaps...multiple groups and partners...it comes out to like 47 actual swaps. Crazy I tell you...but I love it. I feel like I do my best work like this.

B. That being said, I have decided I do need to tone back some of my signing up. I do not need to sign up for everything. So I thought about what I really liked about the swaps and made a list of priorities.

a. Preference will be given to homemade item swaps versus all purchased.
b. Is it something I really want in return or to do.
c. If I am doing an all purchased swap or a half made-half bought...what is the spending limits?
d. Do maybe only one or two purchased swaps at a time.
e. I need to slow down a little so I can enjoy the process more. I really love the homemade gifts more than the purchased. My reasoning is I can go into the store or purchase on line something I really want. I cannot go and purchase something that someone to took the time,effort, care, and love into something that was made especially for me and my tastes. That to me is more of why I do these swaps in the first place and it why I like to do this for other people.

I did some planning for the next swap I am working on and decided after all the time and effort put into the mini - to give it a second chance before throwing it into the heap. I will try to embelish it more tomorrow to give it some life. Hopefully by Monday I will have some pictures to put up. I spent the rest of the evening cleaning up the craft room. I don't know what it is...I start every project (swap) with a cleaned up area. Everything is all organized, but by the end....I cannot even move.....I am surrounded by snips of this and that all over the floor with buckets, bins, trash, paper...my work are has been crowded in where I have a teeny tiny place to work and half of everything I need is burried. Then it takes for ever to clean everything up to prepare for the next one. It is like I get consumed in the project and don't realize the total mess I am making in the process. Anyone else like this? Are you a messy scrapper or do you keep things tidy along the way? Do you clean up after every project...or do you work in a constant state of chaos?

Well I am all cought up for now. Before I post for today...Sunday....I have a busy day ahead. I started this morning at 5:am. I worked for two hours, showered, met a friend for coffee, came back, worked for another little bit, cought up on some posts for the board that I didn't get to at 1 in the morning this morning. Now I need to go and getty ready to find my costume for the wedding I am in next week. Yes, I said costume. I had a black dress for the wedding, but now everyone needs to dress up as Rock in Roll character and the theme of the wedding is Rock and Roll glam. I know that Josh (my son) wants to either go as Gene Simmons in the whole Kiss theme or as Slash. For me....being um dimensionally challenged (short and wide) my choices might be somewhat limited. Thank goodness it is Halloween time and my ability to find something might be a little easier. My mom is going to go shopping with Josh and I. It should be a fun afternoon. Looking forward to it. I will post more tonight (Sunday....Kel)